The Court of Appeal has refused to hear an appeal lodged by a student who was found guilty of conspiracy to commit arson. The charge was in relation to a rubbish bin explosion outside the Legislative Council in 2015.
In March, the District Court sentenced Joe Yeung Yat-long to two years in prison after being convicted. Yeung, a former president of the Shue Yan University student union, pleaded not guilty.
A second student, Ip Cheuk-yin, was sent to a detention centre for participating in the incident. Ip had pleaded guilty.
According to the charges, Yeung and Ip, along with several others they became acquainted with online, caused one of the rubbish bins at the demonstration area outside the Legislative Council building to explode. After his arrest, Ip admitted that he was in charge of keeping watch.
The arson attack and explosion occurred after a rally against a controversial new copyright bill was cancelled by organisers. No one was injured.
On Wednesday, Yeung’s defence argued that the witness who testified that Yeung had instructed him to buy rubbing alcohol and newspaper for the plot, had – in fact – mistaken someone else for Yeung.
The judge also said that the first instance judge’s sentence was not too heavy and rejected Yeung’s application.
